The Baha'is of Egypt have been subjected to persecution and systematic oppression. While their quest for equality has been finally heard by many of their fellow citizens, there remain challenges and obstacles to the implementation of laws intended to grant them their full civil rights and equal opportunity in their society. With the emergence of the new Egypt, they seek to be given the opportunity to actively engage in rebuilding their nation.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Here is an important piece of news regarding the question of Egypt's Constitution, which has been the subject of controversy recently. Following the recent fall of Egypt's Government, its constitution ceased to be valid. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, however, had appointed a committee to amend the former constitution rather than allow it to fall with the fall of the regime and permit the writing of a new constitution when it is timely to do so. Since recent opinion polls have been predominantly against patching up a flawed constitution, the planned referendum on the proposed amendments is now in question. The semi-official daily newspaper al-Ahram has published the following article regarding this question:

In response to strong opposition, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is considering the postponement of the constitutional referendum, due 19 March, and opting for presidential elections first

Ahmed Eleiba , Sunday 13 Mar 2011

Well informed sources have confirmed that there is a strong trend within the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to hold back the constitutional amendment referendum planned for 19 March, after a number of prominent political voices positioned themselves to vote against the amendments. Commenting on this, a source from the Supreme Council said: “Our eyes are on the opinion of the street and the existing political forces in the interest of the country, and if this is the trend among the people, then there is no problem in delaying the referendum." He went on to add, however, "the Supreme Military Council wants to bring an end to its role in governance as soon as possible.”

A government source, who met with the military council to discuss parliamentary and presidency elections, told Ahram Online that “the council is now leaning, though as yet undecided, towards holding the presidential election first, before parliamentary elections, and that the president would take his oath of office before the head of the supreme constitutional court." The elected president, the source said, would then invite a Constituent Assembly to formulate a new Constitution, which in turn would be put to a referendum ahead of parliamentary elections. The source went on to point out that this position came out of a meeting between the military council and the prime minister.

In a poll conducted by the Egyptian cabinet's Information Support Center on Saturday, 59 per cent said they would reject the amendments. Commenting on this, the military source said that he expected more of these polls to resolve the issue finally in the next few days.

In a similar vein, Judge Hossam Mekawy, head of the South Cairo Court and one of the most prominent representatives of the Judicial Independence trend, told Ahram Online “the military council has one eye on the situation in the street and another on the opinion makers among the political and intellectual elite.”

Mekawy pointed out that a vote on the constitutional amendments introduced by a specially constituted committee would, in fact, prove faulty in legal terms. Such a referendum had no legal basis in the 1971 Constitution, which the military had suspended, but which would be revived in the event the amendments were approved by popular referendum, creating a legally anomalous situation. Furthermore, he pointed out, the amendments do not touch on the seeping presidential powers which the 1971 constitution grants the president, and there is no guarantee that a president elected in accordance with that constitution will want to relinquish such powers.

He continued, “there are more problems for the military council studying the process of holding a referendum and elections as the military council are not covered by any article in the 1971 Constitution. The term ‘suspension of the Constitution’ is a legal anomaly and the problem remains that the military council does not have the right to either call presidential or parliamentary elections or name a committee before the Constitution falls completely.”

Mekawy added that, in fact, "the military council overthrew the president, for there is no constitutional or legally binding text that says the president can hand over his powers to the military, which underlines that he was forced to do so.”

8 comments:

Egypt's new Ministry of Interior has just disbanded its State Security Apparatus and replaced it with a new system named: "Division of National Security" intended to guard against terrorism (internally) and to respect human rights, the law and the constitution. Its officers and personnel will be named shortly.

The attack on women was done by Islamist extremists and pro-Mubarak thugs.See:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9b-gKoX85c&tracker=False

Bilo wrote: "On the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Egyptian women who were celebrating the event at Tahrir Square were attacked, beaten, molested and fondled by thugs and Islamist extremists--who call themselves righteous and religious!"

People in Egypt voted on the constitutional amendments on 19 March. Reportedly, preliminary results show 18 million voted with 77.2% in favor and 22.8% against. Also it has been reported that Muslim Brotherhood had great influence in manipulating the un-informed populous to be in favor of the amendments by using disinformation schemes, alleging that voting "yes" means voting for Islam and voting "no" means denying Islam!

Free Baha'is in Iran Now!

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“All the Prophets of God,” asserts Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, “abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith.” From the “beginning that hath no beginning,” these Exponents of the Unity of God and Channels of His incessant utterance have shed the light of the invisible Beauty upon mankind, and will continue, to the “end that hath no end,” to vouchsafe fresh revelations of His might and additional experiences of His inconceivable glory. To contend that any particular religion is final, that “all Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the daysprings of eternal holiness no sun shall rise again, that the ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest” would indeed be nothing less than sheer blasphemy.

“They differ,” explains Bahá’u’lláh in that same epistle, “only in the intensity of their revelation and the comparative potency of their light.” And this, not by reason of any inherent incapacity of any one of them to reveal in a fuller measure the glory of the Message with which He has been entrusted, but rather because of the immaturity and unpreparedness of the age He lived in to apprehend and absorb the full potentialities latent in that Faith.(Shoghi Effendi: The World Order of Baha'u'llah)